1 in 4 rental listings on PropertyGuru welcome to all regardless of race and gender
Property platform PropertyGuru launched an "Everyone Welcome" feature in December that allows landlords to tag their listings as being open to tenants of all races, genders, religions and sexual orientations.
According to PropertyGuru, one in four rental listings - or around 10,000 of the 40,000 on the platform - are now tagged as "Everyone Welcome". The company shared this alongside the release of its 2024 Sustainability Report, published on May 21.
Dr Tan Tee Khoon, country manager for PropertyGuru Singapore, says the feature addresses a pressing need in the market as rental discrimination remains a persistent issue for some.
"In Singapore, one in four Singaporeans has faced racial discrimination when looking to rent property," he says, pointing to data from a 2019 YouGov survey of over 1,500 Singaporeans.
"While values of a multicultural society are broadly accepted, unconscious bias and stereotypes still influence some decisions when it comes to renting personal spaces, like homes," he adds.
Dr Tan describes adoption of the "Everyone Welcome" tag in Singapore as "promising," though the company hopes to see more properties carry the tag in the future. The platform also plans to roll out the feature in Malaysia, where it says rental discrimination is also a concern.
This feature complements PropertyGuru's other anti-discrimination features. The platform's content guidelines and acceptable use policy prohibit agents from indicating race or ethnic preferences when creating listings.
The platform also uses content moderation in the form of a tool which detects and removes listings with discriminatory language before they are posted, as well as a feature allowing users to report listings with unfair practices.
"Building tools is just part of the solution," said Dr Tan. "To really address the root causes of discrimination, we must also partner with agents to encourage non-discriminatory practices, empowering them to guide property owners towards more inclusive choices."
In its report, PropertyGuru also reported a 17 per cent reduction in its carbon emissions in 2024 - as well as 63 per cent female representation in the company's employees.
A 2022 survey of more than 2,000 Singapore residents by CNA and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) found that over 90 per cent said they would rent a property they own to a Singaporean Chinese.
In contrast, only 62 per cent of those surveyed said they would accept Singaporean Malay tenants in a property they own, and 57 per cent, Singaporean Indian tenants.
In response to a parliamentary question about rental discrimination in 2022, the Ministry of National Development noted that members of the public can lodge a complaint with the Council for Estate Agencies if they come across discriminatory advertisements by property agents.
The council's regulatory guidelines require agents to be sensitive to the multicultural nature of Singapore's society.
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